If I Die Young
by itsmollygirl
Summary: It all started in Third Year.


The Back Story of Cedric and Ana

They met one day at the Quidditch pitch during Ana's third year. Of course, she knew of Cedric Diggory. Every girl knew of Cedric Diggory. She and Molly often spoken of him during their sleepovers, but that didn't mean she had talked to him before. Some things were off limits, even in the magical world. That includes boys that are in their fifth year.

She had just turned fourteen, and the year before, she had finally talked her dad into letting her try out for Quidditch. It had been too late to try out then, but she had tried out this year and she had been accepted as one of their Beaters.

She had planned to practice; the boys on the team (the whole team was boys except her) still made fun of her for being a girl Beater. When she got there, though, someone else was flying. Ana quickly recognized his Hufflepuff robes. She was transfixed by his flying as he caught the Snitch. It was Cedric Diggory; Hufflepuff's Seeker.

"Did Flint send you?" His grey eyes narrowed. "If so, tell him to keep out of our quidditch team's business. Personally, I'm tired of trying to be cursed off my broom."

"Flint didn't send me," Ana had to look up at him; she hadn't reached her full height yet, but she shouldn't worry, in the summer, she'll reach just above Cedric's shoulder. "Flint might be my captain, but he doesn't tell me what to do off the Quidditch pitch."

"Doesn't sound like he's much of a captain then."

Ana shrugged, leaning against the Slytherin tower where her housemates sat during games. "I don't yet know; I've only been on the team a week."

"You're their new Beater, aren't you?" he asked, and Ana nodded. "Girls aren't usually Beaters; usually decide to be a Chaser."

"Well, maybe I don't want to be the usual," Ana stood straight and picked up her broom and bats from where they laid on the ground. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to practice."

"Mind if I join then?" He shrugged. "At least you'll have something to aim at."

Ana nodded, playing it cool. Inside, she was about to explode. Cedric Diggory wants to practice with her! "Sure. If, you know, you don't mind getting hit by some Bludgers."

In the end, Cedric caught the Snitch, but he came away bruised.

* * *

"What's up with Cedric Diggory eying you now?" Molly asked when she sat down beside her at the Slytherin table.

Ana shrugged. "I don't know what you mean."

"You do do it!" Molly's hands flung up and into the air. "He even said 'Hey, Ana' this morning and you smiled at him. Now, bloody hell, if that doesn't mean anything I've gone crazy."

Ana and Cedric had been meeting to practice together every Sunday since they're encounter just a few weeks ago.

"We sometimes practice for Quidditch." But sometimes they didn't get around to practicing; they'd get side tracked with talking. "No biggie."

Molly's eyes were saucers. _"No biggie?"_

"No biggie." It was a total biggie, but that's not a reason to make it seem like it was. Ana was perfectly fine with keeping her friendship-was it a friendship?- with Cedric a secret.

She glanced at the Hufflepuff table, and instantly saw Cedric. He looked up and waved before turning back to Molly's brother and listening to him.

"Mate, my brother is his best friend and the most I get from him is a nod and a 'Hey, how's it going' from time to time," Molly's sea green eyes narrowed.

Ana just shrugged and smiled.

* * *

It's summer now, and Ana is growing taller, almost past Cedric's shoulder. They're both at the Thompson household, and Molly and Tyler are lightweights; they hit the bed at eleven sharp. Ana sees a piece of paper slip under the door.

In this nearly unreadable scrawl, there's a note:

Want to go flying?

Was it for her? Of course it was for her! Molly was snoring under her pink sheets, and Cedric had to know that; he could probably hear her.

Ana slipped on her rain boots, tucking her Spiderman pajama bottoms that Molly got her for Christmas into them. She hesitantly opened the door before slipping out. Cedric stood with two brooms, and when he saw her, he motioned for her to go down the stairs first. She did, quietly. Ana watched for all the squeaky and creaky steps on her way down, and Cedric seemed to be following her every move.

Once outside, Ana sighed happily. It had rained that afternoon, and she loved the rain.

"You said you liked this weather, didn't you?" Cedric was leaning against the Thompson's small deck. "The dreary, wet weather." Ana nodded, reaching down to touch the wet grass. "It isn't so bad."

"It really isn't, is it?" Ana smiled up at him from her place near the ground.

"Shall we fly?" He asked, and tossed her a broom.

"Please tell me this isn't Tyler's," she laughed, grasping the pink handled broom.

"As much as I wish I could saw it was, it isn't," he joined in her laughter. "It's Molly's, which she never rides."

"Molls hates brooms," Ana wrinkled her nose.

"Must be the muggle in her."

"Must be." Ana mounted the broom, and got the feel of it before taking off. Flying was exhilarating to her. She didn't know exactly what the deal was about it that made her love it so much. Maybe it was the wind in her hair, or maybe just the feeling of knowing she was flying.

Ana didn't know how long they stayed out there, and she didn't dare figure out by glancing at the stove when they went back inside. She slipped back into the room as quietly as she exited. Molly still lay sound asleep in her bed.

* * *

Ana was in her fourth year now, and Cedric had invited her to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

They talked. And talked. And talked, Cedric asked her about practice, and eventually invited her to go to Hogsmeade with him next weekend. She accepted.

Cedric walked her back to the Slytherin common room even though he hates the place. He smiled before walking away.

Ana jumped up and down twice before waiting the required amount of time for Cedric to make it back to the Hufflepuff common room before heading to the Ravenclaw commons.

Little did she know that she'd run into Draco Malfoy.

Later, she told Molly about the whole thing before letting her tell her about Draco and her.

* * *

She watched Cedric enter his name in the Goblet of Fire.

She was terrified, but proud.

Later, he reassured her that he would be just fine, and that he probably wouldn't even be picked.

He liked the thrill though, she could see it in his eyes.

* * *

Cedric asked Ana to officially date him on their third date.

After he walked her back to the dungeons on their fourth, he kissed her.

The day after that, he was chose as Hogwarts Triwizard Tournament Champion. Ana was devastated, but seeing Cedric happy changed everything. She clapped loudly and stood as he went up to Dumbledore. He caught her eye and grinned his I-Only-Reserve-This-For-Ana smile.

* * *

Ana, Draco, Molly, Molly's brother, and a few of Cedric's friends sport 'Support Cedric Diggory - the REAL Hogwarts Champion! Potter STINKS!' badges. They quickly began handing them out to everyone willing to wear one, even against Cedric's wishes.

All of them are sitting at a bench outside one day talking when Harry Potter shows up to talk to Cedric. They all laugh and say a quick 'You stink Potter' before shoving Cedric away to talk to him.

Later that night, Cedric informs Ana that the first task is dragons.

How was he to get past dragons?

She doesn't ask him that. All she says is their school motto.

"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus."

Never tickle a sleeping dragon.

* * *

She's back in the Hospital Wing with Cedric after the First Task. Ana fought her way in, and was now holding tightly to Cedric's hand. Madam Pomfrey way applying this nasty orange paste on the side of his face where the dragon burn him. It looked absolutely disgusting.

Ana had thought her heart had stopped when the dragon got him. She squeezed his hand tighter.

She can't take two more of these tasks.

* * *

He asked her to attend the Yule Ball, and Ana gladly accepted. She wore dark green dress that was absolutely beautiful. They danced together in the opening ceremony, as did the other champions.

* * *

Ana was held hostage during the Second Task as something Cedric would sorely miss. He used the Bubble-Head charm and saved her within the hour, receiving forty-seven points.

He was tied with Harry for first place.

After learning that she was what he would sorely miss, he told her I love you as he brought her to the surface of the Black Lake.

* * *

Ludo Bagman and the rest that was over the Tournament turned the Quidditch Pitch into a maze for the Third Task. Cedric flinched every time he saw it; the pitch was his home, and he couldn't stand to see it overgrown.

Molly tried to help him with ways to solve the maze.

"I'm a Ravenclaw, you're a Hufflepuff!" She sighed loudly, exasperated. "I'm smart, you're loyal so listen to me!"

Cedric rolled his eyes and unwrapped a chocolate frog. "I'll deal with it."

"He's smarter than he looks, Mooz," Tyler, Molly's brother, said.

"Whatever," Molly crossed her arms before leaning against Draco. "I'm still smarter."

* * *

It's June 27th, the day of the Final Task. Ana's hands are sweaty and she kept messing with her hair. She tried to put her hands in her lap, but they wouldn't stay still.

"Chill, Ana!" Molly said, nodding toward the left. "Here they come."

Cedric was the first to enter, and chants of "Diggory! Diggory!" rang through the Hogwarts students section.

"Now as Mr. Diggory-" loud chants of 'Yeah!' came from us and Amos raised his son's arm high in the air, and you could see Cedric look embarrassed and mutter 'Dad' before laughing and putting the arm down, "-and Mr. Potter are tied for first position, they will be first to enter the maze."

Ana, Molly, Draco, and Tyler watched as Cedric hugged his father and entered the maze. He sent one last look to Ana, blowing her a kiss and mouth a quick 'I love you.'

Thirty minutes later, Ana was almost to the point of biting of her nails. Molly's were chewed off long ago. Something felt off about this. Ana's stomach felt as if it was in her knees and her heart was in her throat. She begin to tap her foot impatiently.

"What's taking so long?" Ana leaned over and whispered to Molly. In turn, Molly shrugged.

"It's a maze, Ana. It'll take awhile." With that, Molly resolved to clenching Draco's hand and flipping through some book she was reading.

Ana twitched and moved around for at least another thirty minutes. Her stomach was now in her feet and her heart was in her mouth. It was beating rapidly, ready to fly away. She was about to get up and walk into the maze and find him when Harry Potter reappeared. The music started playing and they announced the winner. She frowned; she was sure Cedric would've won.

Then she saw him. His eyes were open, and his skin was pale. He was dead.

Cedric Diggory was dead.

"He's back! He's back!" Harry yelled, panic stricken. "Voldemort's back! Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back. I couldn't leave him; not there."

"It's alright, Harry." Dumbledore grabbed Harry's face. "He's home."

"Keep everyone in their seats; a boy's just been killed."

"Let me through!" Amos pushed and shoved, and Ana watched him. "That's my son! That's my boy! My boy!"

Ana watched as the people gathered around him. She watched as Tyler ran down the steps, fighting his way to the front of the crowd. She noticed he did not shed a tear, and neither did she. Later, she would cry all night. Molly was sobbing beside her, buried deep in Draco's shoulder.

Ana sat there, long after everyone had been cleared. She had turned down Molly's offer to let her stay in her room for the night; Cho Chang had even offered to sleep on the couch.

But Ana didn't go to neither her room nor Molly's; she headed toward the Hufflepuff dorms. Tapping the barrels in the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff, she entered and sat in the armchair that she and Cedric had often occupied.

The other students stared for a few moments before kindly leaving. Tyler stayed behind while everyone else left, though. He sat on the couch. Ana had witnessed many of their chess games take place there, usually ending with Tyler throwing the board high into the air before leaving winning Cedric behind.

"The last words I spoke to him were 'I love you man. Win or lose.'" He barely spoke above a whisper. "He just smiled, which meant he already knew that."

Ana tucked a leg under herself. "I told him the same thing; 'Win or lose, I love you, but I'm pretty sure your dad would like for you to win.'"

Tyler rubbed at his eyes, a sad smile lifting the corners of his mouth. "Amos was set on him to win."

Ana nodded. "He was running around the tent earlier saying, 'My boy, the Triwizard Champion! My boy, he will beat Harry Potter; the Boy Who Lived!'"

"Yeah, earlier." His eyes grew dark and he had no color to his face. "Do you believe He Who Shall Not Be Named is back?"

"How else would Cedric get himself killed?" Ana finally felt the tears sting her eyes.

"You know he wouldn't want you to cry."

Ana nodded again. "I know, but I can't help it."

Tyler just shook his head, agreeing.

They sat there for hours. Ana finally fell asleep, dreaming of Cedric blowing her a kiss and mouthing I love you.

She woke up the next morning covered in a throw and a note from Tyler. His messy scrawl read:

**Amos and Annie stopped by; the funeral is Saturday at 11:00 a.m.**

**-Tyler**

He also had the address to the funeral home.

Ana stayed there until the other students began to wake.

* * *

It was her fifth year now, and she joined Dumbledore's Army in honor of Cedric and the fight against the Dark Arts.

She was eying Cedric's picture on the board in the Room of Requirement when she heard someone come up behind her. She turned to see Neville Longbottom. He was carrying a plant.

"He was a good person," he told her. "I know he was, even without ever talking to him."

She nodded. "He was. I agree."

"Here," Neville said, holding out the plant. "It's supposed to bring peace."

The flower was beautiful, and instantly relaxing. "Thank you, Neville. I love plants."

"I do too, actually." He seemed surprised, but he smiled. "Not many people do."

From then on, she opened up to Neville about everything.

* * *

25 Years Later

Neville and Ana are sending their first child, Cedric Anthony, to Hogwarts. Neville is flooing there after the train leaves. No longer to be called Dad, but Professor Longbottom while in class.

While there, Cedric and Molly and Draco's oldest, Lucy, began talking to a girl named Annie Diggory. Ana looks into her face and sees the same eyes and smile Cedric had all those years ago. Cedric was her uncle, Annie said. Her father was Cedric's younger brother. Her father was a miracle birth, Annie said.

10 years after that, Cedric and Annie married. Ceddy the cat was the ring bearer, and Lucy was Cedric's best woman.


End file.
